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Mathematics - Page 1 - The Concepts Project
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TCP Shorts: Existence Proofs. An existence proof is simply a proof that shows a particular kind of object exists, or can exist. Why is that interesting? Because if you're in the early days of gathering data about something and you never observe the thing actually happening, it's very hard to tell if it's a . Read more. Hundreds of . Read more. Walls have bricks, elements have atoms, organisms have cells, and a bowl of Lucky Charms has little fake marshmallows. Walls, elements, organisms, and Lucky Ch...
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An Empty Question
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Imagine a website devoted to talking about concepts. Let us suppose, in fact, that it's a phenomenally great website: it's full of interesting articles on interesting topics and you enjoy it very much (this supposition isn't actually relevant to the thought experiment, I just wanted to throw it in anyway). Have these people reconvened the. Or have they merely started up. Website], which is exactly similar? By Derek Parfit, Part 79. Parfit says that this question. Neither true nor false. When we ask an em...
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Game Theory: Strategy and Backward Induction
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Game Theory: Strategy and Backward Induction. Game Theory: Strategy and Backward Induction. By The Concepts Project. Let’s play a game. I’ll let you go first which I promise will let you win if you play just right. The game is called. And the goal is to say the number 50 first. Before you shout it out like a smart ass, I should clarify that there are more rules:. For the first player, that is to say a strategy that guarantees a win no matter what the other player does. So what is it? The trick is a littl...
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TCP Shorts: Existence Proofs
http://www.theconceptsproject.com/tcp-shorts-existence-proofs
TCP Shorts: Existence Proofs. TCP Shorts: Existence Proofs. By The Concepts Project. Is simply a proof that shows a particular kind of object exists, or can exist. Why is that interesting? TCP Shorts are an experimental feature where we try to explain an important concept in under 140 words. Make the internet smarter; share this piece:. Share this on Facebook. Share this on Twitter. Get monthly emails with the best of The Concepts Project. No spam, no hassle. Comments powered by Disqus. Writing about Pol...
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Recycling Vision
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By The Concepts Project. Wouldn’t it be great if we took things that we had used and shipped them off somewhere for specialists to process and send back to us for reuse? To this you might say, Um, yes, that would be called the genius, human-generated idea of recycling. And to you, I reply, Of course I know this is already a thing. I just brought it up to snarkily point out that nature came up with it first. If there’s a good idea, you can bet nature had it before we did. You were an Egyptian with night b...
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Understanding the Sunk Cost Fallacy
http://www.theconceptsproject.com/understanding-the-sunk-cost-fallacy
Understanding the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Understanding the Sunk Cost Fallacy. By The Concepts Project. At the beginning of this year, I bought an annual bus pass to get onto my university campus. Halfway through the year, though, I realised that I hated getting the bus: it was always crowded and wasting so much time waiting for busses was driving me mad. If I drove instead, I’d be much happier - but I’d have to shell out for a parking permit. I decided it was, for what it’s worth - I truly hate that bus).
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Offsetting Behavior
http://www.theconceptsproject.com/offsetting-behavior
By The Concepts Project. Suppose I told you that putting on a seatbelt makes you drive more dangerously. You might think, "why would wearing a seatbelt change how I drive? Well, suppose I told you instead about a different car modification: a very sharp spike that attaches to the front of the steering wheel, so that if you brake suddenly you'll fly into the spike. What would that do to your driving? But if the spike makes us drive extra carefully then another way of saying the same thing is that. Now, of...
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Path Dependence
http://www.theconceptsproject.com/tcp-shorts-path-dependence-2
By The Concepts Project. If you drive to work in the morning, you probably do so in a gasoline-powered car. Compared against the electric cars that actually exist (versus maybe the ones we. Existed), gas-powered cars just make more sense for most people: they're just much cheaper and far more convenient than electric. But what if we could go back in time, and start again so that history went down a different path? Why did gasoline cars catch on in the first place, then? There are lots of other situations...
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Direction of Fit
http://www.theconceptsproject.com/direction-of-fit
By The Concepts Project. Is a PhD student at Columbia in philosophy. She previously studied at Princeton and Oxford. Her philosophical interests include legal philosophy, epistemology, and aesthetics. When she's not doing philosophy, she enjoys Russian film and writing. Make the internet smarter; share this piece:. Share this on Facebook. Share this on Twitter. Get monthly emails with the best of The Concepts Project. No spam, no hassle. Comments powered by Disqus. Thinking At The Margin.
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Authors
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Usually just Sid) is a final year English student at Oxford. His interests include Old Irish literature, speculative fiction, and martial arts - though they're probably not all related. Is a final year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at Oxford. His interests range from aesthetics to Sub-Saharan African politics, which you can either interpret as broad and eclectic or hopelessly unfocused. Program at CMU, and writes for Science Non Fiction. He is easily distracted by birds. Is trying to make a ...
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